bougenvillias enjoy the heat. they are also trainable to stay small or shaped. i know they are used a lot, but they are a pretty amazing plant.

elephant food?...it's a succulent...pencil plant?...I have both by my front door(didn't want to kill my visitors either)...even in pots in Phoenix/Laveen, I water once a week. They also don't mind the cold too much either. We do tend to get decent frost here and they've lived for over 4 years with lots of neglect...

bougainvillea does well - although I would look for the dwarf variety available at the local nurseries, lantana will do well, ice plants will do well.... vinca will do well... elephant ear will do well... it's kind of viny/green and grows well.....

Elephant food/bush has my vote ! It absolutely loves the sun, takes very little water, can be trimmed, chopped, pruned etc. It can handle it all ! Also, the "leftovers" can be stuck in some dirt and voila ! a new plant...

Only caution: it definitely needs drainage ! doesn't like "wet feet" !

I started out with a four inch slip that I "filched" from a plant at a motel...this was about ten years ago.. I now have over two dozen plants from that one slip ! that's not counting the ones the below freezing temps cost me...but I just clipped off the "frozen" branches and the plants were OK...Also I have found new homes for a number of them as well...

I have most in hanging pots (all plastic), but several in the ground as well...I understand they can grow to 6-10 feet tall, hence the name elephant food; the plant hails from Africa, where the wildlife (elephants) loves to munch on it !

This is one of two plants I heartily recommend for our beautiful (but sometimes brutal) desert ! the other is an annual that often comes back (or reseeds) the next year, the delicately beautiful, but surprisingly tough, portulaca ! Again, I have many in hanging pots; they love the sun, don't need much water, need drainage too...I love their variety of colorful blossoms !

Great suggestions already, but I'll just add my voice to the choir for "elephant food", Portulacaria (not to be confused with portulaca). I have elephant food plants in a couple of large glazed dark colored pots and the plants are as happy as can be (except when the javelina nibble at them--another story, LOL). They get bigger and bigger--I just water them deeply once a week or so, and even if I head out of town like I did recently for 10 days in summer, they don't mind at all. What's not to love? They come in good old fashioned green, and in a white-striped variegated form too (which doesn't grow quite as vigorously, but still grows well).

Desertmama, I'm also a big fan of Portulaca too (I know, I know, these two plants have very similar genus names!), also called "moss rose". I buy a few plants in late spring and always end up with self-sown seedlings in following years and either leave them where they are or transplant them into other spots to enjoy those crazy, colorful blooms all summer long. Again, another plant that doesn't mind me being away now and then even in summer.

Take care and let us know what you select for those pots,
Grant

Here is a link that might be useful: {{gwi:399302}}

I bought an elephant food plant last week after reading about the raves on this thread. Is there an upright and a trailing type? Mine looks upright. Doesnt have the pretty red color stem as in the pic posted in above post. Going to plant it in planter in full sun.

Just a note to greenlust...the red color comes from lack of water. When it gets too much, the whole plant stays green. Like I said, I can forget to water for a month or more...IN THE SUMMER...it doesn't care (oh, then I water until the pads are full and juicy). Gotta love succulents...

Hiya Greenlust and all,

Good choice, LOL. I don't *think* there are separate types for upright vs. trailing forms of the green-leaf type (though the variegated leaf type seems less upright). I think it mostly has to do with how the plant is/was grown.

Jolmos is right that water stress will help encourage the red stems and red leaf-ends, as will more sunlight. Plants grown with a lot of water and a lot of shade tend to be greener than those in more sun with less water. Some people like the red, and some don't.

I love the red color but I probably water my plants enough that they don't have much red, but they do grow and thrive and don't miss me when I'm out of town. They really are great.

Keep us posted anyone who is growing these fun plants. They're really easy to propagate from stem cuttings too.

Take care,
Grant

I planted the elephant food (green) with some vinca in a planter. Will move the vinca out of the planter after summer so i can water the elephant less and make it look red.
I once tried to steal an elephant food stem cutting from a huge plant in a public place those are mighty strong woody...take some tool with you. (i bet it looked like my hand was caught in the plant and i was trying hard to pull my hand out). :)

The Elephant food is one of my fav plants.I have over 20 in my yard.
I give it to any "new to arizona gardners" and so far all
of the plants are still going strong.
It can be trained up right or trailing just clip off any branches that grow upright or leave it do its thing.
...greenlust.. been there done that!!!